Improvement in hats



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No. 51,1721-D. GITCHELL, New 91:11, N, Y.- Hat.Novembex 28, 1865.This inntipmis describedby the claim. 1"

Clqigu- -Appiying ametallic orIother spring formed in-t-he shape of a ring around the bedy afha'tj alqng its joint, substantially as und'for the purpose describe Inventor.

Witnesses.

D. W. GITGHELL, OF NEW YORK, N, Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5 1,172, dated November 28, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, D. W. GITOHELL, of 63 Broadway, in the city, county, and State of New York, have'inrented a new and useful Improvement in Hats; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference bein ghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- 7 Figure 1 represents a vertical section ofa hat made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a detailed View of the wire spring 0.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve geutlemens hats, especially that class of hats whose bodies and brims are flexible, or are made of flexible material,altho11gb it is applicable to all kinds of mens hats.

It consists in placing around and attaching to the body of a hat at the place of its junction with the brim,or of incorporating in or with the body of a hat at that place, a wire spring, whose ends are united to form an unbroken ring. When the spring is placed on the outside of the hat it is securely tacked to the body in or along the joint, where it will be concealed by the hatband which is placed over it.

In applying my invention to a finished hat, I use a small steel orother metallic ring, 0, or a ring of other material which possesses suftlcient strength and elasticity, and whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the outside of the hat on which it is to be placed, and place it around the body A of the hat atthe joint, and having secured it by sewing, or other means, I cover it with the hat band D, as seen in Fig. 1. This circular spring or ring 0 may be secured by the same thread which fastens the hat-band. I

The spring may be incorporated with a hat at any stage of its manufacture, or during the process of blocking, or of finishing, or when being trimmed.

I am aware that hats have been made with circular springs placed in the outer edge of theirbrims to keep them extended, andsuch a method of extending their brims is mentioned in the patent granted to one Thomas W. Adams, December 24, 1861, a cord of fibrous material being used at the joint between the body I and brim. Hat-s so made, and other hats of flexible material whose symmetry is preserved by means of springs in the outeredges of their brims, or by means of a stiff or an elastic brim, do not retain a correct and symmetrical shape along the inner line of their brims, but their bodies at that line have a tendency to yield and increase in diameter, and to become rounded up, and the angles of the joints cease to be Well defined, becoming rounded up, whereby the hat ceases to fit the head of the wearer.

By means of my invention thejointof a hat is made to' retain its proper place, being strengthened by a spring which will yield to outward force and allow the body of the hat to bend so as to fit and conform to ones head, and allow the joint to be bent out of a uniform horizontal plane, as when the brim and lower part of the body are curved, and which will also restrain and prevent the stiffness and rigidity of the brim, or the strain of a spring in the edge of the brim from bending the body unequally, so as to destroy its symmetry, and which will also keep out and stretch the body and its joint to its proper proportions and hold them there at all times when not restrained or overcome by superior force.

. The spring 0 will not prevent the hat from becoming conformed to the head of the wearer. Its action on the brim B will be to keep it in its proper plane with respect to the body, because its tensile strength counteracts the tendency of the spring in the edge of the brim, it one is used in that place, to twist the brim out of its proper plane or level.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Applying a metallic or other spring formed in the shape of a ring around the body of a hat, alongitsjoint, substantially as and for the purpose described.

D. W. GITUHELL. Witnesses M. M. LIVINGSTON, G. L. TOPLIFF. 

